Face Off: “Dressed to Kill”

March 4, 2015

Jon

The nine remaining artists on Face Off started this week’s episode at Whisky a Go Go, the legendary music venue known for hosting famous shows by bands like The Doors, Led Zeppelin, and The Ramones. Standing in front of the stage, the artists received a message from a genuine horror icon.

Writer and director Cliver Barker (Hellraiser, Candyman) appeared on a TV screen, inviting the artists to create “startling and terrifying” characters inspired by his work.

While Barker wasn’t available for the judging phase, his company’s co-head Mark Alan Miller helped determine who best captured the Barker aesthetic.

Elaborating on this week’s challenge, McKenzie Westmore explained that the artists would pick one of nine futuristic fashions to build their characters around. Each costume came with a model, giving the artists a clear jumping-off point.

Kelly got off to a great start, but panicked when she discovered a severe case of “second skinning.” With coach Anthony’s encouragement, she tried to incorporate this defect into her character.

Emily made a strong impression on coach Laura with her stringy headpiece, but when it crumbled with less than an hour to go, she was forced to abandon this inventive flourish.

Working side-by-side, Ben and Julian had a relatively easy time with this week’s challenge—until pressing time concerns became a subject of discussion.

What do these four artists have in common? Their characters were selected as this week’s top looks.

Stephanie was less fortunate. From the outset of this challenge, she was suffering from a case of designer’s block, resulting in concern from both Laura and mentor Michael Westmore.

In the end, the judges agreed that her character lacked precision and specificity.

Jamie had similar difficulty finding her character. Coach Anthony tried to push it in a more Barker-ian direction, but the final product earned unflattering comparisons to Star Trek.

Jamie and Stephanie were the only artists selected as this week’s disappointments, leaving the three remaining artists (Adam, Darla, and Logan) in the clear.